


Experiment In Fast Forward

by soft_princess



Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Community: femslash_minis, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-01-27
Updated: 2008-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:54:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22532824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soft_princess/pseuds/soft_princess
Summary: They're stuck in the portal for two weeks. Only three hours, give or take a minute, have passed in the real world.
Relationships: Winifred "Fred" Burkle/Tara Maclay
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	Experiment In Fast Forward

**Author's Note:**

> Set in s6 of BtVS (after "Gone" but before "Entropy"), and s3 of AtS (before "Waiting In the Wings").
> 
> Note: written for mosca in the Fred round at femslash_minis. Request after the fic.

> "Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better." - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)  
> Source: [Quotations Page](http://www.quotationspage.com).

1--

It's a portal.

Tara's sure of it, and Fred doesn't know enough about magic to argue. It's so different from the portal that sent her to Pylea that she has to trust Tara to know what she's talking about.

They figure out easily enough that it's most likely the books they were both reading that are the cause, but they can't put the theory to the test. "We have to wait until someone severs the connection," Tara says. There's something in her eyes that tells Fred she doesn't think it's going to happen on her end.

At least Fred had been in Wesley's office. There's a good chance he's going to walk in and see the open book... but she doesn't know how long it's going to be.

(They're stuck in the portal for two weeks. Only three hours, give or take a minute, have passed in the real world)

2--

They don't have anything to eat, but they're not hungry.

(That's how Fred figures out that time moves differently here: days pass, but it only feels like minutes. It doesn't start to feel like hours until Fred's watch tells her they've been there for almost a week)

They have nothing to pass the time. Fred starts to wish for a pen.

There aren't any rocks on the floor or any door to escape through. No breeze, no heat; they're not even a little bit cold. It's comfortable in a very disturbing way and Fred stares decisively away from the blank walls (just waiting to be scribbled on, calling to her). She recites formulas to keep busy, but she stops when she realizes that Tara can't keep up; it's not fair to her if Fred finds a way to pass the time on her own.

All they have left to do is talk.

3--

Fred looks at her when Tara suddenly stops talking. Tara's cheeks are smeared with tears, and Fred reaches a hand, rubbing Tara's shoulder before pulling her close against her chest. They shouldn't have started talking about relationships; the wound's still too raw for Tara.

Fred kisses her forehead. She's not good at saying the right thing, and while it doesn't feel like Tara's a stranger anymore (not after two days of this) it's still awkward, and Fred doesn't know what to do apart from touching her.

She babbles instead. "You know what I miss the most? Coconut jelly beans. It's kinda weird, because I can't remember the last time I ate them, but they're all I can think about."

(Mom used to leave a bowl of them on the kitchen table)

Fred isn't hungry, but she thinks sugar would be a good thing to have in a situation like this.

4--

They bunch up their shirts to make pillows (they haven't needed to sleep yet at all) and lie down face to face. Fred runs her hand down Tara's side over the curve of her hip to her thigh; she feels her shiver.

(She's never done this before, with a woman. It's strange and exhilarating, and she almost wishes she could say she's never thought about it, that it's boredom that's the cause of this. She knows it's not)

When they kiss, it's not like a revelation. It's shy, tentative. Fred pulls back, not in shock; she just wants to watch Tara. She's beautiful, her cheeks flushed and her mouth opened just slightly. Fred pushes a strand of blonde hair behind Tara's ear and bends down again.

Fred's feeling bolder than she ever remembers feeling; she _wants_ this. Her hand comes up to cup Tara's breast and she shivers when Tara moans.

5--

It's like an experiment, but _better_ , more concrete. Real, no matter where they are in the universe (or outside of it).

Fred doesn't let Tara take over (to teach); she doesn't need it. Tara's wet and needy--warm, _so warm_ \--when Fred pushes a finger inside her. Fred takes it slowly at first, her finger just dipping in and out, her eyes fixated on where they're joined together like this. So arousing.

Tara keens and squirms against her; Fred knows the experiment is a success and she pushes further in, deeper, faster.

When Tara comes, it's groundbreaking. Fred doesn't stop moving her fingers, her hands, her mouth, until Tara pushes at her, pushes until Fred is lying down on her back with her legs spread.

This (Tara's head between her legs, tongue moving quick, deep, hard), this Fred knows, but _God_ , boys get it wrong. They get it _so_ wrong. 

6--

They feel it coming, slowly, like the earth's about to tremble beneath them, and they know this is the end.

They've been here for over two weeks (three hours) now and they spent most of the last four days learning each other's body, but they also know it can't ever happened outside this place.

"Thank you," Fred says. They've pulled their clothes back on, and Tara is curled up with her head on Fred's lap, staring into space.

Tara looks up and smiles. "Maybe our paths will cross again."

"I'd like that." There's something about Tara that calms Fred down. Maybe it's just a side effect of this place, this prison lost in space. She doesn't know.

They don't exchange phone numbers.

Fred bends down and kisses Tara (one last time). The next moment she's sitting on the floor, next to Wesley, and the world is filled with colours again.

7--

After Fred tells him about the portal, shows him the time on her watch as proof and explains about the book, Wesley ties a strong rope around it so it won't be opened by accident, and stuffs it at the bottom of a drawer.

Three days later, when Fred walks into the lobby, Wesley points to a box sitting on the counter. Fred doesn't recognize the handwriting or the postmarked address. She opens it carefully (you can't be too careful) and she smiles.

Charles and Wesley both ask what it is, who it's from, but Fred just cradles the box to her chest and brings her booty up to her room. The jelly beans aren't meant for anyone but her.

They taste different from what she remembers, and she thinks, maybe, that it's because now they're not associated with her childhood, but with new experiences instead. She's okay with that.

**Author's Note:**

>  **Request** :  
>  **Character you'd like paired with Fred** : Tara  
>  **Three elements you'd like in the story written for you** : coconut jelly  
> beans, a magic portal, penetration  
>  **Up to two elements you don't want included** : fic set in heaven, an  
> established long-term relationship  
>  **Rating preference** : R or above  
>  **Does your request require comics canon?** : No comics canon, please.


End file.
